The maximum city gets maximised exponentially at the onset of festivities like Ganesh Chathurthi, Navratri and so on.

Much as it soars our spirits and the adrenalin rush, it also (on the flip side, if I may say) casts a spell of raucousness and apathy on most of us. All under the #GarbOfGod.
Being a staunch Mumbaikar myself, I completely advocate the noise, fun and frolic that grips us for these days, but let’s not get carried away by the by-products that come as an unwarranted package deal with the fun. Crime rates hit the peak during these “holy days”.
Add to this, look at what happens to the idols post immersion. They are insensitively dumped into the water bed where they get mutilated further and get thrown off by the currents on the shore. Totally sanctimonious! Eco-Ganpatis are cool, but to what extent are they really being implemented? And all said and done, they do contribute to the water mass even in a dissolved state.

Picture courtesy: www.bloggerabhilash.info

At our homes, we may for sure want to conventionally continue with the idol worship – why not do it with an existing picture or idol? Take the festival to level next. Evolve as you unlearn. Take selfies with Him. Go insanely viral on social (which we are doing any ways). Will the worship levels change? Will anything change for that matter? #Justasking.

The ‘Sarvajanik’ ones can be brought alive by showcasing past videos, rather than static idols. Let the members invest on a projector and a screen! Do a web cast, chrome cast. Televise it on local cable channels for everyone to see. Avoid serpentine queues. Make it inclusive (Sarvajanik apparently means ‘for everyone’ right?) Go digital! Get smart and cooler! And stop the rowdiness and the visarjan concept, once and for all. I mean there’s so much one can do.
All of this with the same festive fervour minus the raucousness and apathy.

That’s my funda of e-Ganesha (Aka “Existing Ganesha” 😁) Please remember, Ganesha is the coolest God…He’s here to stay and is always in an “existing” state (even if you want to dump Him in deep waters) Let’s immortalise Him in the true sense of the term.

They say when life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade. Then they also say tough times don’t last, tough people do. (When the going gets tough, the tough gets going, remember?) Then the line – what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger, came through.

I say, when all of the above fails, press the magic button of CTRL-ALT-DEL in your head.

This button introduced by Microsoft actually has a classic connotation to it if one chooses to delve deep. You recall how easy it is to operate a defaulted system which posed a ‘syntax error’ once you press this magic button? Same extended logic, nothing else. And here’s how –

1) CONTROL your emotions (Let the head do the job. The heart can keep bickering).

2) Pick the right ALTERNATIVES (Trash is no alternative. You’d rather hang yourself or even jump into the Indian Ocean). Choice and discretion are conferred upon humans as differentiators from fellow animals, right?

3) And DELETE the unwanted crap (crap is unwanted, I know. Just mentioned it for the sake of assertiveness) in your life. (Take a garbage bag. Particularly the black one. Dump the crap, tie it up and watch the shit go in the CLEAN UP VAN)

Remember – To err is being human and to err repeatedly is being a moron.

MMXIV was a mixed bag. Some good, some bad, some great and some worst. Overall experiential. Very experiential.

Some moments live with you forever. I was lucky to get a handful of those. Moments that give you a different sort of a HIGH. A lot new feats achieved, that too some single-handedly. And some with collective team effort. New friends for life. Friends who would stick around with you like crabs. Just like the HIGHs, there were all time LOWs. The year started off with excruciating pain (in the true sense of the term). Keep assuming and do not ask me what it was!

As usual, the work front gave me more than 100% satisfaction (Many rub it in by saying I’m married to my work, so be it – ha ha ha) – Emotional laurels came along from the mortals who mattered and that meant a lot.

At home, things were different for a change. New challenges were confronted head on. New recipes of home tricks were tried and voila, they worked.

Social life was unexpectedly good. So no regrets on that front as well. The “exploratory mode” made it extra special.

Socially & professionally – all obligations, deadlines, milestones, expectations and timelines were met to a near perfection. I would rate this year to be 8/10 (that’s almost a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating now *APPLAUSE*)

And yes, the stress factor was equally supportive to play a vital role amidst all this action. It tried to keep pace with all the excitement. Mind it, I said tried. But yes, WELL-TRIED!

Now if I look back, MMXIV was actually action-packed and awesome to sum it up in one word. So a big bow to all those who have been a part of my 365!

God is good, ain’t He?

Whilst MMXIV was an experiential year overall, it did end on a sad note with the confirmed news of #AirasiaCrash – Lets hope for peace and liberation for all the 162 ill-fated souls. Not to forget, the mysterious disappearance of #MH370 and the explosion of #MH17 will also leave their ugly scars in this year. May the Force be with the departed souls and their families and hope MMXV rings in the required peace of mind in the lives of the families of the departed. Amen.

There comes a time in life when you are faced with paradoxical situations. Situations that leave you undecided and handcuffed. For instance, imagine a girl in a serious relationship with a poor guy. She knows for sure that the guy will hold her hand till death does them apart. She also knows the grim reality that she will have to lead the life of a below-average individual. There will be times she might have to go to sleep hungry. There may be times her child may have to undergo the rigours of the bad world. Whilst the overall picture seems rosy, reality has something else in store. Present (read: true love) may be a short term gift here, but future (read: security) is a mystery in the true sense of the term.

Now imagine this girl is packed off to wealthy family. There might be umpteen difficulties (read: teething issues) in the beginning. The fear of the unknown devil, so to say. But what lies ahead is a clear path of wins, thereby leaving less to chance and luck. Reality is expected and welcome. Reality here, does not bite. The risk then? Well, true love (which apparently makes the world go round) is a question mark.

These situations are like pimples. When you try and treat them, they become even more sore and hurt more.

Best is to ignore them. They usually overstay their welcome and wade off in good time. Rather than passing off precious moments in speculation and anticipation, celebrate the status-quo and jump the gun when the time is right and ripe, because the universe conspires to get you to things you aspire.

We, Indians, are busy folks. We love to saddle ourselves with work and then crib about every bit of it. At the same time, some of us are busy doing nothing. But the cribbing continues.

How many times have we said this to ourselves – “God, gimme a break”

Why can’t we give God a break? That poor Creator also deserves a break, before He breaks! We rave and rant so much so that we end up abusing peace by breaking it into pieces. Sad, but true that!

Peace is sublime and an ethereal state. At the same time, it’s very relative. Some mortals get peace by by burning their blood & sweat. Others get peace by watching others burn their blood and sweat. Either way, peace is abused. Because the Creator cannot keep changing the definitions of peace as per the whims and fancies of us, lesser mortals. He will break one day, dammit.

So let’s shut our respective traps. In our own selfish interest, give the Creator the peace He deserves. Allow His creative juices to flow. Help Him create / recreate jewels and / or masterpieces, which is now a thing of the past. Which will in turn help us mortals to spare the horror of putting up with more and more delinquent and demented mortals. See, we Indians, somewhere find a selfish motive. Here’s to that, then?

Do we realise that everything and anything under the sun and in the purview of the universe is actually ruled by gravity? If we do realise, do we acknowledge?

So ponder this:

The bed on which we wake up every morning – the cup of tea we pour with pride and cherish – the seamless shower – the vehicle we drive to take on the world – the conference room where the eggheads of the world meet and greet one another – the stage which the artists set on fire every time they play a favourite number – the political campaigns that happen with much aplomb for personal aggrandisement under the garb of service to the nation – the same bed that we hit every night after a tiring days work – almost every damn thing in the world!

Even babies are produced with gravity being the driving force!

A thankless job indeed as it relentlessly and religiously proves its prowess by mere silence.

Gravity does keep us grounded (fun and pun intended).

It is a force that is here to stay as long as the earth continues to be a magnet!